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Results tagged ‘ Jeff Francis ’

The Mets lost one of their primary free agent targets Friday morning when Jeff Francis reportedly signed a one-year deal with the Royals.

Though he may never have been the Mets’ top starting pitcher target — they have been in talks with Chris Young for weeks — the deal should nonetheless affect them. In addition to losing the bargaining power of talking to Francis, the Mets now must come with the fact that the other teams after him — the Yankees, for one — now may focus more of their energies on Young.

If the Mets cannot land Young, they may turn toward Dave Bush or Freddy Garcia instead. Earlier this month, the club signed Chris Capuano to a heavily incentive-laden one-year deal worth a base of $1.5 million; they would like to do acquire another starter on similar terms.

Contrary to recent media reports, the Mets have not yet offered contracts to free agent pitchers Chris Young or Jeff Francis, general manager Sandy Alderson said Friday. But the team is currently in negotiations with both players.

Some other nuggets from Alderson:

Despite their budget, the Mets expect to leave next week’s Winter Meetings in Orlando with new players — though not necessarily any big-ticket players. If all else fails, Alderson joked, the Mets will select someone in the annual Rule 5 Draft.

Alderson fully expects Oliver Perez to still be with the club come Spring Training. The start of the regular season, however, is another matter.

Alderson said he would be “surprised” if the Mets made long-terms commitments to any player — Jose Reyes included — prior to Spring Training. The new front office is anxious to take a thorough inventory of its own assets before taking any long-term risks.

Non-tendering Sean Green and Chris Carter was more a function of needing to free up roster spots, Alderson said, than it was of monetary compensation.

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